What does the truth matter? Haven't we mothers all given our sons a taste for lies, lies which from the cradle upwards lull them, reassure them, send them to sleep: lies as soft and warm as a breast!
Georges BernanosRead
God! how is it that we fail to recognize that the mask of pleasure, stripped of all hypocrisy, is that of anguish?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The pursuit of pleasure often conceals deeper feelings of pain or anguish.
In this quote, Georges Bernanos suggests that people frequently misinterpret the surface-level joy associated with pleasure, failing to acknowledge that it can hide deeper emotional struggles or suffering. He highlights the complexity of human emotions, where the desire for happiness can mask underlying anguish that remains unaddressed.
Themes
PleasureAnguishHypocrisyEmotionRecognition
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of happiness.
More from Georges Bernanos
All quotes βFear, true fear, is a savage frenzy. Of all the insanities of which we are capable, it is surely the cruelest. There is naught to equal its drive, and naught can survive its thrust.
Georges BernanosRead
I know the compassion of others is a relief at first. I don't despise it. But it can't quench pain, it slips through your soul as through a sieve. And when our suffering has been dragged from one pity to another, as from one mouth to another, we can no longer respect or love it.
Georges BernanosRead
It's a fine thing to rise above pride, but you must have pride in order to do so.
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Hell, madame, is to love no longer.
Georges BernanosRead
Have you never been moved by poor men's fidelity, the image of you they form in their simple minds? Why should you always talk of their envy, without understanding that what they ask of you is not so much your worldly goods, as something very hard to define, which they themselves can put no name to; yet at times it consoles their loneliness; a dream of splendor, of magnificence, a tawdry dream, a poor man's dream -and yet God blesses it!
Georges BernanosRead
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